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🔉 A gradual decrease 🔉 Getting quieter 🔉 To become softer
decrescendo

decrescendo

7.5
Gradually getting quieter in music or a part played that way
  • adjective
  • /ˌdɛk.rɪˈʃɛn.doʊ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : decrecendo
  • The orchestra played the final bars in a beautiful decrescendo.

Examples

  • The conductor indicated a decrescendo to signal the musicians to play softly.

  • The conductor signaled for a decrescendo as the piece came to a close.

  • As the storm faded, the sound of thunder became a gentle decrescendo.

  • As the orchestra played the final notes, they ended in a gentle decrescendo.

  • The singer's voice faded into a decrescendo, creating a haunting effect in the ballad.

Synonyms

diminuendo
vsdecrescendo
  • Specialized
8.2

Becoming quieter over time in music

is the same musical decrease but used as an alternate term

Antonyms

to crescendo
  • Specialized
1 6.3

To become gradually louder or stronger

How Loud

fortissimo
  • Specialized
8.3
forte
  • Specialized
7.7
decrescendo
  • Specialized
7.5
piano
  • Specialized
4.4
pianissimo
  • Specialized
1 7.5
silence
660 2.0

Surface Forms

decrescendo positive

Morphology

decrescendo = crescendo (semi-transparent) = de + crescendo

The form is reasonably interpretable as the opposite of adjectival 'crescendo', but it is still a technical musical label rather than a fully ordinary English pattern.

Etymology

Decrescendo comes from the parts de- ('down') and crescere ('to grow'), the same root you see in increase and crescendo. So when music is decrescendo it gradually becomes quieter.